Further information on the reduction of micropollutants in wastewater

Here we provide links to relevant articles and offer summaries of studies on micropollutants and its reduction from wastewater. We also discuss solutions and issues such as cost of removing pharmaceutical residue. New content will be added every month. Please feel free to comment or provide more information in any discussion.

Sui et al. (2014) investigated the removal of 13 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China using sequential UV and O3 for a period of 10 months to determine variations in removal efficiency.

Yang et al. (2011) followed the removal of 19 PPCPs over a period of 12 months in a wastewater reclamation facility in Georgia, USA. Following membrane and GAC filtration, ozonation was employed as a final treatment step of the biologically-treated effluent.

Schaar, et al. (2010) investigated the efficiency of a pilot-scale ozonation in removing micropollutants from the effluent of a full-scale biological WWTP in Austria. The WWTP was upgraded from high-loaded to low-loaded with nutrient removal.

Lester et al. (2013) investigated the applicability of ozone as a treatment step following activated sludge system to treat wastewater from a pharmaceutical formulation facility in Israel. The target drugs carbamazepine and venlafaxine were detected at extremely high concentrations in the raw wastewater therefore reducing its concentration prior to discharge into the local municipal WWTP is necessary.

Lee et al. (2012) investigated the efficiency of ozonation followed by biofiltration in removing pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) from a pilot-scale MBR at a WWTP in Albuquerque, NM, USA.